


City of Secrets.

by lightsofblue



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:54:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25447201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightsofblue/pseuds/lightsofblue
Summary: Placed 22 years after Sozin's comet events, this is a one shot exploring the possibility of Zuko and Katara having an affair when they're older.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	City of Secrets.

Ba Sing Se had always been a city of secrets. Some were unspoken secrets, the kind that everyone knows about, but no one comments out loud. Others were forgotten secrets, no one cared to keep them, because no one wanted to know them anymore. 

The third kind of secrets was the kind that only one person knew, or in Katara's case, two people. Her secret was disguised as meetings with kings and ministers, as trips to the other side of the world, hidden in thick-walled rooms, in lonely gardens. 

Katara would meditate on it as she walked to her room in King Kuei's palace. With the Dai Li agents her secret was surely not a two people secret, perhaps Kuei knew it. But if he knew, he did not care, for he'd never told her anything.  
Or maybe even the Dai Li didn't know. Perhaps Katara was very good at keeping secrets.

As she recognized the hallway and the proximity to her chamber those thoughts left her mind, being replaced by others, warmer, more pleasant ones. 

She opened the door and found him staring out the window, his long black hair reaching halfway down his back, the golden crown shining on the top of his head. Katara approached with delicate steps, only to play, for surely Zuko already knew she was there. 

Katara wrapped her arms around Zuko's waist, sank her face into the firebender's back, smelling his jet-black hair. He placed his hands over Katara's and pressed them gently. 

"I've missed you," she heard him say. Katara pulled her face away from zuko's back, only to utter a faint "I've missed you too."

Zuko broke up the curious embrace, only to take her in his arms. 

Katara then looked at his face: the black tufts on either side of his amber eyes, his thin lips that formed a tender smile. She raised her hand just enough for her thumb to touch the corner of his mouth. Zuko left a small kiss on her finger and she felt herself blush, as she had so many times before. 

He placed her on the bed, Katara knelt down to reach the golden crown that adorned Zuko's head and carefully removed it, placing it on the little table beside the bed. He dropped the rest of his hair down his shoulders, and Katara marveled at the beauty Zuko still possessed, regardless of the wrinkles that had begun to appear around his eyes and the sporadic white hair that peeked out of his long hair. 

"You are beautiful," she said, unable to stop her thoughts from turning into words. Zuko smiled at her and then kissed her forehead, and from the way he began to undress Katara she knew that he could not stop his thoughts from turning into actions. 

*** 

Katara lay in Zuko's arms. Both their hairs, brown and black, were tangled. White strands were visible in both. 

Zuko's face sank into Katara's neck, slowly kissing the brown skin. 

"What do you think?" A long silence later Katara caught the question. 

"About what?" she asked, embarrassed that she wasn't paying attention.

"About the trip to the southern islan... Is something wrong Katara?" Zuko's tone changed from excited to worried. He stopped the kissing. 

"No, it's nothing," she said, actually thinking about secrets again. That secret they both shared. 

"Are you sure?" he insisted. Katara sighed and shook her head. 

"I was thinking about Mai." Zuko's pupils suddenly got bigger, afraid maybe? "And about aang." she added, even though they both knew he didn't matter much. 

"About Mai? What about her?" Zuko asked, looking concerned. 

"I wonder what she thinks of me." said Katara. Zuko looked confused. Katara continued, "Mai is astute. She must have noticed that we've had a lot of meetings together over the past few years."

"If Mai knew, she would have said something to me, trust me." Zuko pointed out. 

Katara shook her head again. 

"And if not, Zuko? What if she decided to ignore the smile on your face everytime you see me? Ignore the smell of my perfume, the one that drenches your clothes every time you return after seeing me... "

"Katara." Zuko interrupted her, his golden eyes reflecting concern and something else: doubt. "Where are you going with this?"

She looked away from Zuko and placed her sight on the golden crown that rested on the bedside table, she touched the gold, which unlike Zuko, was cold. 

"I'm tired of keeping secrets, Zuko." She said, leaving the crown again on the table. "The lies of these ten years weigh too much already…" she muttered, her eyes feeling wet. She knew she was crying before the first tear descended on her cheek. 

Zuko added nothing further. He wrapped her in his arms and allowed her to cry for several minutes. When the tears stopped he held her still a little longer. 

"If you are ready for this to stop being a secret Katara, then it will stop being a secret." he muttered in her ear. 

*** 

On the upper ring of the city, there was a beautiful house with white walls and mahogany doors, it was empty most of the year, except in summer. People commented that the owners were the ambassador of the southern water tribe and her new husband, the fire lord. 

No one could confirm this. Ba Sing Se was still a city of secrets.


End file.
